


An Eye For An Eye or, Merlin and Arthur’s Adventure Time

by Reiya_Wakayama



Category: Merlin (TV), xxxHoLic
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon, Crossover, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Magical Attack, Slash, tournament
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-20
Updated: 2012-03-20
Packaged: 2017-11-02 05:59:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/365706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reiya_Wakayama/pseuds/Reiya_Wakayama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During a tournament, Merlin gets hurt and loses something and Arthur has to find a way to get it back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Eye For An Eye or, Merlin and Arthur’s Adventure Time

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry to reni_m for the lateness of this gift. I’ve been uber busy with classes the last couple of weeks and this completely slipped my mind until spacii pmed me today about it. Lol. Reni_m put: DO want: A/M, comedy, adventure. Do NOT want: heavy domestics. Prompts: 'It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye,' adventure-time!, tournament.  
> The main plot/theme thingy is taken from the manga XxxHolic by Clamp. Sorry if this sounds off, it was a bit rushed to get it typed up. Hope you like. You don’t need to know anything about the manga to read this fic.

When Merlin opens his eyes, he can only see out of one. Reaching up clumsily, he feels heavy bandages covering his left eye. “Gaius!” Merlin calls out to his guardian and physician.

He hears wood creak and footsteps on the stairs. His door opens and the older man come in, followed by Arthur. The prince is no longer in his armor though he still wears his gambeson, the padded cloth soaked with his sweat.

“Ah, you’re awake. How do you feel?” Gaius asks, settling down on the edge of the bed. Arthur helps Merlin sit up when the warlock struggles.

“All right, but why is my eye covered and what happened while I’m asking?” Merlin asks, rubbing unconsciously at his bandaged eye.

“What do you remember?” Gaius asks back.

Frowning, Merlin rubs harder at his eye, thinking back as far as he can. “I remember the tournament. Arthur was in it, was winning. Then the alarm bell ringing because of the fire…and then…than nothing. Gaius what happened?”

“We were attacked, by a sorcerer. They set fire to the lower town to distract everyone while he went after Arthur. You accidentally caught the spell that was meant for Arthur,” Gaius explains. He smacks Merlin hands away from the bandages as he goes to unravel them. “Stop that.”

“It itches though,” Merlin complains. “Why is my eye bandaged?”

“The spell hit you in the face,” Gaius starts.

Merlin freezes and then starts tugging at the bandages anew, trying to get them off. “You idiot, hold still,” Arthur says tersely, knocking Merlin’s hands out of the way to slowly unwrap the cloth from around his head.

As the last of it falls away, Gaius silently hands Merlin a mirror. Staring, Merlin can’t look away. Where there should be a pupil and blue iris, there is nothing but white. He can’t see anything out of his left eye. “Is there a way to fix it?” Merlin asks softly, unable to look away from the reflective surface.

“I don’t know,” Gaius says. “The sorcerer who cast it might know, but he is dead.”

“There is one option,” Arthur says quietly. Both turn to look at the prince. “My father thinks I don’t know about it, but there is a spring, in the northern mountains. It is said that on a full moon, it can restore anything back to its former self.”

“It is only a rumor, sire,” Gaius warns.

“It is all we have Gaius. I won’t let Merlin sacrifice his sight in vain,” Arthur snaps back.

“Your father won’t let you do this,” Gaius warns.

“My father won’t know,” Arthur says, brow rose in emphasis.

“As you wish.” Arthur nods.

“We’ll leave in the morning. Merlin, be ready by then,” Merlin can only nod.

~*~

Dawn has since passed by and the sun is high overhead when the two stop to water the horses. Merlin is still rubbing at his eye unconsciously, fidgeting with the strap of his pack as Arthur divvies out the bread and fruit between them for their lunch.

“Will you stop that?” Arthur growls and Merlin flinches, pulling his hand away from his face, flushing at being caught.

“Sorry,” he mutters.

Arthur sighs heavily. “it’s not your fault,” Arthur says, biting into an apple angrily.

Slicing up his apple, Merlin hands half to his horse and bites into the other half, chewing slowly as his thoughts wander. The rest of the meal is silent and they pack up and continue on.

Merlin shivers and glances up at the sky later on in the day. The temperature is dropping steadily the further up into the mountains they go and the wind is picking up, snatching at their clothing and messing up their hair. Clouds gather on the horizon, gray and forbidding. They need to find shelter soon or who knows what might happen if they get caught out in the storm.

Merlin is just about to mention this to Arthur when the wind suddenly stops and the world falls silent. Their horses stop, shifting around in agitation, giving soft, scared sounds. Suddenly, a blast of wind comes out of nowhere, pressing everything flat with its force.

Merlin glances up to see the clouds directly above them. They let loose with a scream of wind and the rain plummets, soaking them through almost instantly. “Merlin!” Arthur yells out but before he can look at Arthur, something hits him in the side of the head, knocking him off of his horse. The world goes dark around him.

~*~

Arthur struggles with the two horses on the path. Merlin is slung across the back of his horse, out cold after the branch that had been ripped off one of the trees struck him. Up ahead, a pinprick of light beckons and he pushes on through the howling wind and pouring wind.

He nearly cries in relief when he rounds a bend in the path he is following and the light materializes into a window. A low, stone building sits behind a stone wall. Arthur rushes forward through the gateway. The door opens just as Arthur reaches it, two little girls standing in the glow of the hallway behind them.

“Mistress is waiting for you,” they say in unison, voices echoing strangely. Arthur freezes for a moment, casting a glance between the two unnaturally sounding girls and Merlin’s limp body on the back of his horse.

Straightening, he nods and gently slides Merlin off of the horse, carrying his limp body across the threshold of the building. They’re alone in the hall as the two girls lead the horses away. Arthur almost jumps as a woman walks out of one of the doorways in the hall. “In here,” she says softly.

Arthur walks forward and goes into the room. It is a simple room, a four-poster bed in the center of the room, thin curtains tied back around it. Working quickly, he strips Merlin of his soaked clothing and slips him under the blankets. He doesn’t even stir.

“You have a wish?” she asks softly.

“Yes,” Arthur says.

“The spring will not give him back his sight,” the woman says, standing in the doorway.

Arthur starts, reaching for his sword. “Who are you and how do you know this?” he demands.

“I am Ichihara Yuuko, and I grant wishes and I know this because it is your wish and that it doesn’t exist. It is just a myth. There is a way though, to save his sight,” she says. “But a price must be paid for this knowledge, something of equal worth.”

“What is the price?” Arthur demands. He’ll pay what he must to help Merlin.

“You’re hatred of magic,” she says simply.

“What?”

“You rely on your hatred of magic when something happens to change your life. Are you willing to give up your crutch to save Merlin’s sight?” she asks, her crimson eyes as hard as rubies as she waits for his answer.

“I…yes, I’ll pay the price,” he says and nods.

“He sacrificed his eye to save you. An eye for an eye is how you will save his sight,” she says softly.

Arthur just stares at her in confusion. She smirks a little, “You must give half of your eye to him.”

“How?” Arthur asks.

“I will show you,” she says, stepping forward.

~*~

Merlin wakes slowly, blinking sleepily. The bed he is on is soft and comfortable. Snuggling into the blankets, he starts to fall asleep again and then sits up straight, hand reaching for his eye. He can see from it again.

Merlin looks around, finally noticing his surroundings and sees Arthur asleep on the bed next to him. “Arthur,” Merlin calls.

The prince stirs and his eyes open. “You’re awake,” Arthur says, sitting up. “How is your eye?” he asks, hand reaching out to touch his left temple, near to Merlin’s eye.

“I can see, how did this happen?” he asks.

Merlin sees the image of himself briefly in his left eye. “Oh,” he says, reaching up to touch Arthur’s hand where it rests against his skin. “Thank you,” is all Merlin says, squeezing at Arthur’s fingers.

**End**


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